"Ellos hablan francés."
Translation:They speak French.
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If we were actually standing there having a conversation, gender would be clear. For teaching purposes, clear pronunciation might be more useful.
How do you know when to use ellos are ellas...im aware that : (os) is (masculine) and (as) is (feminine) but in this situation i didn't know if its ellos or ellas??
In this situation, you can use both, but it is more common to use ellos. For example: If you have a group of 100 girls, it would be ellas. But as long as there is at least 1 boy, it would change to ellos. Does that make scence?
"They are talking French" is not OK. What's the difference between speaking and talking?
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Talking and speaking can be used interchangeably in some instances: They are talking = They are speaking. However talking is not usually used when referring to languages like this... only speaking. In English one speaks a language... one doesn't talk a language.
Ellas Ellos - aren't they interchangable? I like ellas frequently since I am a women.
'I am a woman' * No, they're not interchangeable. If 'they' just refers to women, then you use 'ellas', if it just refers to men, or a mixture of men and women, then you use 'ellos.
They are speaking French is marked wrong. The corrected answer is "They speak French." Should my answer have been correct? is there some nuance I'm missing here?
Yes, you are correct. "Ellos hablan francés" can be translated as They speak French or They are speaking French. For me, the choice depends on the context and what I am trying to emphasize. If someone asked me ¿Que lengua habla Julia? and you are not in the room, I would consider that to be "What language does Julia speak." If you are on the other side of the room and speaking with someone, I would consider that to be "What language is Julia speaking." Because there was no context here, I answered: "They speak French." With Duo, I always use the simplest answer unless it does not seem to fit..
Though talking and speaking are sometimes interchangable, the correct grammar in this case is "speaking French." In English, you don't say someone is "talking French."
Other languages in the progranm say you have a typo, and highlight which word. Helpful reminder.
If you had to write in English rather than Spanish, then that should be been accepted.